Fears
by Locke1
Summary: Fear, everyone has fears, But is the fears that you think they have the one's they really have? Or are they just covers? Or maybe theres something beneath everything that everyone hides? This is what the cast of Ranma really fears...
1. Ranma's Fears

Fear.  
  
They don't really know why I run. Why I run away from those things even if I see a small glimpse of them, even if I hear them. They just don't understand why. All of them think it's because of the cat-fist training and it's because I fear that they will scratch me again.  
  
They're wrong.  
  
A lot of people have asked why does Ranma run away from them? He can probably swat them away easily or even kill them without a thought. They just don't understand.  
  
I love cats. They are... mysterious, loyal, proud like me... somewhat. I have seen them walk on fences like me, they act like me. But the truth is... I act like them, not the other way around. I said that I walk on fences to practice balance. I didn't lie. But Pops didn't teach me to do that. Cats did. I learnt from them in the training trip. I learn from Cats things that Pops didn't teach. How to survive, how run, how to balance. Pops taught me how to fight how to throw a punch, a kick. Pops and cats... those are the 2 teachers I have.  
  
I think Pops saw that I learnt from cats then. That was why he decided to teach me the cat-fist. My world shattered. I hate my Pops, I also love him, I respect him, despise him. Cat-fist isn't something that fear teaches you. It's like the "Shi Shi Hokodan" you learn it from sorrow. I felt sorry for cats, how they wanted revenge from humans that starved them. I was their savior. I brought them food wrapped all around my body. True they injured me. But those scratches did more to show me the pain that Pops put them through. Most of them didn't even have the strength to draw more than a drop of blood.  
  
It went on like that, I go in with the sausages, or fish paste, or whatever. The fish gets to eat. I feel their sorrow. Until finally, it happened. They gave their spirit to me. That is what the Cat-fist REALLY is. Manifestation of cat's vengeance, and I am their avatar.  
  
Ok by now I know you must be thinking, that's bullshit! If you are really an avatar of vengeance, then shouldn't you be tearing apart Akane and that old woman that snapped you out of it? Akane and that old woman are special. They take in strays. They show kindness to the weak, scorn to the powerful. That's why I like Akane so much. No matter if she is wrong or not, she takes the side who is weaker. Cats are like that. In the wild, they may pick on easy preys, but who doesn't if they are to survive? Cats respect their preys for running, their struggles.  
  
Fear.  
  
Yes, I do fear something, but it is not cats that I fear. I love cats. The thing I fear is what cats awaken in me: the vengeance. I am afraid what the Cat-fist may do. I know what I do because Pops tells me what I did, that and I see his tattered shirt most of them time. What would I do if no one stops me? Would the vengeance know of all my techniques? What if the vengeance can tap into what I did when I fought Saffron? Or did I tap in to it...  
  
Stargazing, another thing the cats taught me. That's what I'm doing now with the only cat that doesn't wake the vengeance, the cat that gave ME his vengeance. I named her Misuki. Pops don't know. No one knows except for me. Maybe Cologne knows because she HAS some experience on the topic, but I doubt that.  
  
Fear.  
  
Yes, I fear what Misuki taught me. I fear that Misuki is also holding something that I own. Ever since I learnt the Cat-fist, I never felt complete unless Misuki is right beside me. Like now. I don't know, maybe she holds a piece of my soul. Maybe that is the true meaning of Cat-fist. A man with a cat's vengeance; a Cat with a man's soul.  
  
"Meow."  
  
"Misuki, you have to go. I smell Akane, she's coming up."  
  
"Meow."  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow Mi-chan."  
  
"RANMA!"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"DINNER!"  
  
"COMING!"  
  
Yes, I do fear something. I fear that people will hate me for what I hold. I fear what I can do to people if what I hold holds me. Of course, I curse myself for not being able to hold in the vengeance long enough so that I can once again play with the stray cats again...  
  
I miss them...  
  
My only friends that won't betray me even though I have betrayed them in not giving in to the vengeance. They try, but I can't. After all, I AM human, and humans shouldn't kill other humans... but lately, my mind wanders...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Something that came from no where and my semi-weird explanation of how the Cat-fist REALLY works. Of course, there are flaws, I see them, but it's just something I thought up...  
  
This is the first time I've REALLY used the first person POV to write something. It really appeals to me after reading stuff that is also written in that format. So I decided to try myself ^^  
  
Some of you might think, why the hell are you writing this when u have another fic your writing! GET OFF YOUR BUTT! Well hehe, sorry...  
  
This is a one-shot fic, I PLAN to MAYBE work on it a bit more later if I feel like it, but most likely I won't. I think I can expand on this... might be interesting =D  
  
Comments? Criticism? Hate mails? Don't be shy ^^; 


	2. Ryoga's Fears

Fear.  
  
Heh, the things I fear. I fear a lot of things. Getting lost for eternity, not being love by someone. Lots of things. Of all the people I know, the only person that really understands me, I think, is ironically Ranma. And for that, I hate him.  
  
I guess I don't really hate him. I mean, he is the first to give me something that I didn't have since I was a kid. Somewhere to go to. I got separated from my parents when I was seven years old. I fended for myself for a while. Went to school when some officers found me. I basically wandered just like my parents. That is until I met him...  
  
Fear.  
  
Back then, I only fear one thing. I feared that I would never be able to find where I am anymore. Ranma saw to it that I knew where I was. In middle school, I knew one thing. If Ranma is there, I'm probably in the right place. Of course, with Ranma stealing my bread rolls and constantly insulting me, I get angry more often than I get the chance to say thank you. But I guess Ranma knew what I meant to say anyway.  
  
It's funny. Both me and Ranma are really bad at stuff like saying thank you or sorry, but we seem to know when we say that to each other. Every time we duel, we would give each other this glance to say I'm sorry to beat you up, but you're the only person to fight me evenly nowadays. Ranma always wins at the end. I'm kinda glad that he does. I mean without him always winning, I guess I wouldn't have a reason to wander anymore.  
  
Fear.  
  
There's another think I fear. Not knowing where to go anymore. When I'm lost, I'm always trying to find something that might beat Ranma. When Ranma went to Jusenkyo, I found a technique to make anything as tough as steel. Then I learnt the Breaking Point from Cologne. Finally I learnt the Shi Shi Hokodan.  
  
Lately, I don't feel as afraid of not knowing where to go anymore. I have Akari. I know that if ever I don't know where to go, I can go to her farm and she welcome me with open arms, pig OR man. Something Akane won't do. She might say hi to me when I'm a man, but only welcome me when I'm a pig.  
  
Fear.  
  
I fear that I might turn into a pig permanently, like Ranma did when we met up with Herb. So what do I do? I do what I do best, I fight. Just like Ranma. Me and Ranma have an understanding of some sort. We hate each other's guts. We also need each other to grow. We are friends, we are rivals, most importantly, we are two completely opposite sides of martial arts. He is speed, I am power. He is ingenuity, I am endurance.  
  
The last time I fought him was a few weeks after Saffron. I noticed something. He fought... differently. I realized that I was out matched so I relied on my endurance to pull me through, it usually works. But that time, he fought like a demon.  
  
He charges as one would pounce at a prey. He punches as if he would cut me with claws. He jumps and lands on his feet no matter what I throw at him. I guess he always fought like that, but it's only until now I think I realize it. He fought like a cat.  
  
Fear.  
  
I freaked out when I noticed this. Was he using his Neko-ken? Is the Cat fist slowly taking over him?  
  
For those of you who thought I had no idea of this technique Ranma possesses... You're dead wrong. I know he knows it. He KNEW I know it. He also knows that I won't exploit it. In exchange, he helps me out with little things.  
  
Anyway, after that fight, I asked him. I think he freaked too. He just shook his head before Akane hits him to the stratosphere for 'picking on me'. Kinda hilarious if you're looking at it from my view. But nevertheless, a kind gesture from her.  
  
"RANMA!"  
  
Huh? Isn't that Akane's voice? Wait... that means I'm at the Tendo Dojo! Ranma is up on the roof again with a cat!? I thought Ranma freaks out when a cat gets near! What the hell is going on? Did he really master the cat fist!  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"DINNER!"  
  
"COMING!"  
  
Fear.  
  
Looks like one of my fears is starting to catch up to me. Ranma is going to improve in the art much faster than I am, and he's going to leave me behind and hold back just like he does with Mousse. With the cat fist, he might just do that... Maybe I should train on countering the cat fist. Or maybe I should just go to Akari and see if she needs help with her pigs? Maybe I should ask Ranma to use the TRUE Cat fist against me so that I can think of a counter like Ranma does with MY moves.  
  
That should be fun... now where exactly is Akari's farm...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Ok, I lied... it ISN'T a one shot... I never feel happy with them anyway -,- So here I am expanding on it...  
  
Heck, I decided to change the whole idea of the cat fist and just go with what I think all the Characters in Ranma1/2 fears and add some plot to the mix of things... whatcha guys think?  
  
Ryoga and Ranma: I always thought that they are very much opposites but the same. Ryoga would be more open with his emotions and Ranma would hide them even to themselves. So I figured Ryoga would admit more fears than Ranma would. Of course, Ranma might REALLY have not many fears who knows? I think I'll go with Genma next... or maybe Akane... I'd have to see... 


	3. Akane's Fears

Fears.  
  
I guess you can say that I fear everything that everyone else fear. I'm scaried of death, I'm scaried of things that I don't understand. But above all, I fear being controlled.  
  
I think I started to fear being controlled when I was young. When mother was taken away from me. She didn't have a choice, she just... faded... I remember sitting by her as she was fed by tubes and have a mask over her mouth and nose to help her breath. She died like that. In pain, too weak to do anything. That was why I choose to become a martial artist.  
  
Heh, it all changed when someone called Ranma Saotome came into my life. I thought that I was the best, I was the top of the world. I can defend myself from all the boys from school and Kuno. I can't be controlled! I think I was starting to believe that I can control myself so that I won't die.  
  
Until Ranma poked the back of my head...  
  
Fears.  
  
At first, I thought, it's ok, shes a girl too! She must understand what I feel, so we can try to control ourselves together! Work together so that we can overcome anything.  
  
Of course, I find out that he is actually a he not a she.  
  
To a certain level, I felt betrayed. A girl who I thought can help me, who i have placed my trust in already, someone who I thought I can learn from, turned out to be something that seems to want to control me.  
  
My opinion of him changed rather quickly after what happens to him.  
  
He is quick to protect, he is, somewhat, like a knight in shining armor in training. I... I felt SAFE when i'm close to him. But he's still a boy. Then I remember...  
  
Fears.  
  
This morning is one of those mornings I call 'over-protective Ranma mornings'. Ranma gets into this mood once in a while where he seems to watch over everyone excluding himself. He would go out of his way to help other people, talk to them, expecially other girls, even when he is fighting Ryoga or Mousse or KUNO, he would take care not to hit anything that would leave a mark for more than two days, for them...  
  
Of course, that goes for his other fiancees as well...  
  
Sometimes, I start wondering, what if Ranma isn't what he is? What if he doesn't care anymore? What if he thinks, this world is nothing, I should just take care of myself? I guess you can say I fear Ranma. Yet, I think I love him too. How is that? Can you really love someone that you fear? I guess I can't really say that I fear Ranma because I know he'll protect me above all else. After Saffron... I KNOW it's the truth.  
  
"Yo 'Kane, you there?"  
  
See what I mean by Ranma being over-protective?  
  
"I'm fine Ranma, just... thinking."  
  
"oh, ok."  
  
You can HEAR the disappointment that he can't help me; and i guess that IS the truth. I wonder what sets him into these moods...  
  
"Hey Ranma."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"N-nevermind."  
  
No that's stupid...   
  
"Hey, is it ok if I go on ahead, I wanna take care of Baka early today." Ranma gave me a smirk and jumped off.  
  
For some reason, I feel that Ranma doesn't really think he belongs here, like something, super-natural, is trying to push him away from Nerima, to get him to join them? Then again, I guess those stuff only happen to me. I mean getting kidnapped by princes on floating islands, bird people, etc. I don't know why, but I can never seem to express myself to him.  
  
Well I guess my faith in myself haven't fall THAT much since Ranma came. The Amazons gave me a pretty good moral boost, believe it or not. That was the first time I say Ranma AND Uncle getting all freaked out. I mean at first, I thought that it must be a pretty scary monster that Shampoo have brought with her that scaried some so much. Of course, after that, I figured out that it was the girl herself that they are scaried of.   
  
I felt that I CAN control my life again after Shampoo came. Of course, Ranma defeated her, but my hopes didn't go away. After all, Shampoo almost succeeded if it wasn't for the fact that my mind was harder to control. I found out that day that Ranma isn't as undefeatable as he seems.   
  
Fear.  
  
Another thing about Ranma that doesn't seem to make sense. Why does he keep stringing along the girls? I mean can't he see that all he needs to do is choose me... umm, one of us to get rid of all his problems! I mean, Ukyo can go back to her home and say that he already has a life of his own and I'm sure she can go on with her life. Shampoo would go back to her village and we'll be ma-  
  
"MISUKI!"  
  
Misuki? Another girl? THAT PERVERT! I can't believe... No... I know he cares for everyone. After Saffron, I finally figured it out. But I don't think that a Misuki is in our class...  
  
I rushed to the school yard anyways, I mean if someone is hurt, I should be there to help, I mean Ranma would be too busy fighting off whoever anyways.  
  
"misuki...."  
  
Ranma was kneeling down beside a tree with his back towards me, I can't see around him, so I can't see who was hurt.  
  
"Ranma! Who did this!"  
  
Ranma stood up slowly and turned to face Kuno who was holding a slightly burnt bouken. Seems to me he learnt how to use a Chi attack with his sword...  
  
I turned to see who was behind Ranma...  
  
I saw a cat...  
  
Ranma wasn't freaking out...  
  
"you.... you hurt her." Ramna said without any emotions. I felt the air tense with anticipation. Chi swirled around Ranma, so strong that I'm sure everyone in the school felt it. Ranma's eyes became half closed as he fell on his knees, his fist planted on the ground.  
  
The cat meowed weakly as if trying to persuade Ranma to do something. Ranma shivered in twisted estacy and breathed out a single breath as cold as the artic sea. Kuno was laughing thinking that he has defeated the evil sorcerous with the move that the gods envy. I think I saw Misuki, that cat, cry a single tear.  
  
Then my fears came true.  
  
"why is it that i feel hatred for everyone now?" Ranma whispered lazily, but loud enough for everyone to hear. I think everyone's heart stopped at that moment. I know my did, along with this dull, numbing pain.  
  
"why is it that every cat I loved is hurt." Ranma removed his fist from the ground and let it land on an other part, like he was walking on all fours. It was then I noticed something, there where four slits on the ground...  
  
"why is it that i can never play with cats anymore?" A single tear fell from Ranma. What is happening? Why is he acting like this!  
  
Ranma has control over the cat fist somehow and now, all he feels in hatred.   
  
"Ranma?"  
  
He ignored me.  
  
"you will pay."  
  
He slashed him...  
  
He bled...  
  
Fear.  
  
I think at this moment, I can truly say that I am so afraid that I would abandon anything to get away...  
  
So I ran...  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
I decided to go with Akane next. I think that Akane is a VERY interesting character. She has lots of depth in her character, probably because she is the main female character, but she still doesn't seem to learn alot out through the manga until the very end. Thats MY point of view, flame me for that as much as you want via e-mail.   
  
With Ranma, I concentrated on his fear of harming people and being feared, Ryoga his sense of belonging and direction. For Akane, I wanted to stick with something that most of us can relate to, death, and not being in control of what is happening. I guess the second one is not THAT common, but death is the main point in this 'mini-fic'.   
  
I'm probably going to do Genma next then a small intelude to sum up what has happened to the characters and Ranma's Cat fist. Then I'm going into the harder characters to write about this topic... the Amazons. I think I'll leave my little comment of them for their own chapter. 


	4. Genma's Fears

Fear.  
  
I always believe that the Art is above all. The Art comes before life. The Art is BEYOND life. It is a understanding. And with that in my mind, I trained my son to become a true Martial artist that none has ever seen before. Someone that can understand that the Art for what it truly is; something that not even life can stop.  
  
When we traveled across Japan to train, I saw dojos that are no longer dojos but a mere school for people who want to excersize. My son can defeat the so called masters of the dojo with one hand tied behind his back and one eye closed even when he was eight years old. That was when I felt fear. I fear that my son would never be able to reach the peak of the Art. I fear that the world held him back.  
  
Then I realized that a measure of someone's skill is not with others, but with himself. So I took him away from civilization to train him in the wilderness so that only he can judge himself. So that I can guide him towards the true path of a Martial artist.  
  
Fear.  
  
Of course, before that, I used many different training methods that uses fear against the trainee to strenghten him. One of those many training that I used is the Neko-ken. I saw how Ranma seem to love cats, more importantly, I know that the cats loved him. He may not know it, but every night, for some obscure reason, stray cats would all curl up beside him to keep him warm while he sleeps. That's how I got the idea that the Neko-ken might work for him.  
  
I don't know if I should curse myself or just plain kill myself after that.  
  
It was the worst mistake I've ever made as a living thing.   
  
At that point, I was blinded by my dreams. The technique seems so good. The manuel says that it is a undefeatable technique that only a child can learn. Ranma is a child, he loves cats, it's undefeatable. That painted a VERY good picture in my deluded mind.  
  
The next few days, my mind went on automatic. Everything I did seems not me. I'm not even sure what the details are in those few days that I trained Ranma in the Neko-ken.   
  
Like always, I got lucky. An old women managed to snap Ranma out of his berserker state.  
  
Fear.  
  
I think I truly started to have this fear of mine after the incident with the Master and his Moxibustion technique. Ranma managed to defeat the master even when his strength has be stolen from him. His pride torn apart, his Art, sundered. Without his strenght, you can say that he is almost useless when it comes to a fight.   
  
Then he learnt the Hiryu Shouten Ha.  
  
The technique is a masterpiece. I would've never imagined that something like that would be invented by a women. But it did.   
  
There is no word in ANY human language that can describe this technique. It's not perfect in any sense, quite opposite, it is VERY flawed. But imagine, if you know the technique, the stronger you and your opponent's strength COMBINED, the stronger the technique! This means that a MUCH weaker person can pratically defeat a GOD if he or she knew this technique and pull it off.  
  
Of course, Ranma had to prove me right on that one.  
  
Saffron.  
  
Fear.  
  
Yes, after the Neko-ken, no, after the past then years in which i've trained Ranma in the Art, I've finally realize why I've always seem weary of my son. He IS what I've always dreamed of, he is the embodiment of the Art. He can pull of seemingly impossible stunts using this ridiculously adaptable technique to defeat opponents with MUCH more physical AND spiritual potential than he did. All with the limited skills and knowledge he has from just a mere ten year training trip with limited combat experience.  
  
Even if Happosai and Cologne won't admit it, I would say, without a doubt, that Ramna can beat those two if he truly went all out, without restraint. Even with all the trickery that Happosai has, or the thousands of years of combat knowledge that Cologne has. My son, can beat those two.  
  
I know that Cologne has at least few versions of the Hiryu Shouten Ha that doesn't need the hot chi of the opponent, she has hinted at it a few times I've talked to her, but that really defeats the purpose of the technique since is SHOULD be using the opponent's strength. I KNOW for a fact that Ranma doesn't need the spiral anymore. All he needs is a area with highly saturated chi cold OR hot, or just a area with extreme temperatures. In other words, if you were to fight Ranma in a desert or in the middle of a blizzard, he would beat you without breaking a sweat even if you are a god.  
  
Fear.  
  
All that thought swam in my mind as I heard my future Daughter in law said the words that I feared since I started to teach Ranma.  
  
"Uncle, Ranma... he... he.."  
  
"Calm down Akane! Take a deep breath! Suck it up like a Martial Artist!"  
  
"Ranma... he.. he's losing control!"  
  
"WHAT!?! I thought I taught the boy better than THAT!"  
  
"I... I think he's using Neko-ken, but he KNOWS what he's doing!"  
  
"..."  
  
"He.. he said that... all he-"  
  
"All he feels is hatred..."  
For me  
  
"H-how did you..."  
  
I almost wanted to laugh as I saw Akane's expression, of course I know about the Neko-ken's secrets, I just don't know how it does it! It doesn't use fear! No form of the Art should be built on a emotion so weak! It's build on hatred. Now, my son, my heir, my own blood and flesh, would hate me with all his heart and soul because he has finally mastered the Neko-ken.  
  
What I didn't tell the Tendos and Ranma is that after the page in which says that the technique would turn the trainee insane, says that to master the technique, the trainee must learn not fear. I know Ramna would be able to do it. Even if he must hate me for the rest of my life, I want him to be THE Art. He will be above life, above all things. He would be a man ABOVE men.  
  
Fear.  
  
Yes, I fear many things; but I fear my son and what I've done to him the most.  
  
I fear his hatred.  
  
"Lets go Akane, we need to stop him before he hurts someone." I watched as Akane rush out the door, "Wait, go get Cologne, we'd need her help."  
  
I think I would die today, if not, then a piece of me will.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Genma is hard... I need to make it so that he thinks of himself above others, but I also want to show why he did all those weird trainings with Ranma. I believe that Genma REALLY believes that the Art is more important than life itself. Why else would he be a student to Happosai if he treasured his life? Why would he teach Ranma that he should be ready to sacrifice his life for the art? It's because Genma TRULY believes that the Art is everything.  
  
I try to word this piece VERY carefully, I mean I can't make it so that Genma is noble, cuz he's not. I can't make it seem that he is a total idiot, cuz, lets face it, Genma may be idiotic sometimes, but he is no idiot. He is just a person who loves the Art to a fault. A BIG fault. That's what I think of him anyways.  
  
Also, I want to make it so that Genma does care of Ranma in a way. A twisted, weird, sorta way, but he still cares.   
  
So let me sum up what I think of Genma: Art above all, Life is a means to the Art, cares for Ranma.  
  
So what does that add up to? He would show to Ranma that the Art IS above life so he would do anything to make Ranma into the ultimate Martial Art's machine!  
  
Well that's my rant of the chapter ^^ interlude is coming up ^^ 


	5. Cologne's Fears

In my hundreds of years of life, I've only felt this feeling that i am feeling right now twice. Once about ninety years ago when a extremely skilled fighter and Chi user entered our village, the second time when I fought Ranma with the Shark-fist. Truth be told, I only think i felt that power from Ranma that time because of our close proximity. But this time, I felt it within my small resturant, from the local highschool.  
  
Never in my life did I think that i would encounter something so... unbelieveable again. But I have felt it twice, both times from the same man.  
  
I felt the Neko-ken unleashed.  
  
It's hard to describe such a feeling, it really depends on the person that has the Neko-ken. From Ranma, you can feel a sudden feeling of safty, an odd feeling because of the knowledge that the Neko-ken will rip you apart if your not careful, but that is the feeling that you get from Ranma.  
  
Then the next part of this feeling starts.  
  
Unadulted hatred.  
  
I have never in my life felt hatred so strong. A hatred only a child can feel, hatred only beings still deeply intouch with their instincts can feel. But Ranma can emit this feeling everytime he goes into the Neko-ken.  
  
The last part of this feeling is very curious, a underlaying sorrow.  
  
Can this be Ranma's human soul singing within the Neko-ken? Is this why he can still revert back to his sane state without the help of a Magical item like that first man i met with this Technique? Or is it something else?  
  
Fear.  
  
Being so old, I don't really have much to fear now. I've seen my children die before me. I've seen wars waged because of some petty reasons. I've seen things that only Ranma can accept just because of the fact that he's seen them too, and then some more things that even Ranma can't accept. I've even see my own potential death about ten years ago.   
  
That is why being Chi sensitive is so important to me, To feel things that one can't feel with their own physcial limits. I felt, heard, smelled, saw, and tasted what happiness, sorrow, hatred, and any other emotions that you can name because of my chi sensitivity. But this is the first time i've exprienced a dark emotion so pure.  
  
I think i can honestly say that at this moment, I found myself shaking in fear despite the fact that Death is no longer one of my fears.  
  
In fact, I fear for what Ranma may do in his state of Neko-ken. Never have I sensed so much hatred in one so young. Never an emotion so pure from one as experianced as Ranma.  
  
I fear for everyone that has wronged him in one way or another.  
  
Fear.  
  
I've heard the american saying, 'Payback's a bitch'  
  
I always thought of it as a joke and said, 'No, Payback is just an amazon with lots of weapons.'  
  
But I think now I truely understand that saying's meaning.  
  
But instead of a female dog, it's a male cat.  
  
Yes, I do not fear alot due to my experiances in life, but one of the things that I DO fear that i can admit at this moment right now is this.  
  
I fear Ranma.  
  
I fear for those that Ranma has a need to hate.  
  
"COLOGNE!"  
  
Seems like little miss Tendo has needs for me, I wonder why....  
  
"Yes Miss Tendo?"  
  
"It's... it's... ranma.."  
  
"Yes child, I know, I will meet you at the school ground once I've gathered the items that I need."  
  
"But..."  
  
"I know more about the Neko-ken than you can comprehend, and I have magical artifacts that can break one out of it even if the usual ways of waking him isn't working."  
  
Sometimes, I feel SO tired talking to the younger generation. I am be old, but i'm not senile.  
  
"But, Ranma, he's aware! He knows what he's doing! He.. he said that he... hates everything..."  
  
Oh dear... this isn't good is it?  
  
"Go, try to prevent Ranma from killing anyone, I'll send Shampoo and Mousse to assist you soon, but I still need to get those artifacts!."  
  
Akane nodded and dashed towards the school.  
  
I hope my old age won't try to catch up to me during this little event...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Cologne, I always thought that she is EXCELLENT at changing subjects to things that she likes. So here you are, Cologne's mind. See how the ancient ghoul manages to change topics within her own mind just as good as she does it with Ranma!  
  
All joking aside, Cologne is very old no matter how you look at it, and most old people don't have much to be scared about expecially if your a old person that can kick ass while balancing on a cane. But with knowledge comes fears that most people won't know of. And Cologne's fear is this Ranma. I think that one of the reasons that Cologne wants Ranma in the Amazon tribe is because Ranma is just THAT good. Another reason is because she likes to torment him, but that's really besides the point.  
  
Cologne's Knowledge of Neko-ken: Let's face it, She knows the Neko-ken, she's FOUGHT against the Neko-ken, she even SAID that she has faced it once during that whole watermelon race thingy. But Since Neko-ken is banned, her knowledge of it will be limited because you can't really know something unless you've seen something in action for a while (On a side note, this is also why i think school is a waste of time. That ends my personal fight with the school system for the day ^^).  
  
I think I was avoiding the true subject for a bit too long in this mini-fic, but like I said at the beginning of my rant ^^....  
  
Anyways, Shampoo is next.. when I get off my butt to actually do some writing anyways =.=  
  
Oh yeah, in case your wondering where the interlude is... let me just say three words  
  
Screw the interlude.... 


	6. Shampoo's Fears

I've always thought that the Amazons were the most powerful, generally, as a group of people. The musk may have their animalistic bodies that are enhanced by their breeding habits, the Phoenix may have the ability of flight over us, but us Amazons have the one thing the two others don't have, we have ingenuity in the fighting arts to put anyone to shame. Look at the Fist of the Royal Chestnut roasting on an open fire, it makes our speed on par to the Musk for a short period of time, or even faster if one trained hard, look at the Breaking Point training and how we can make our body as tough as the earth itself, look at the Splitting Cat's hair training, and of course, the Ascending Dragon Blast, the pinnacle of Amazonian arts.  
  
Yet, I saw one person to have seen these moves and either master them or utterly defeat them. He even improved on the Ascending Dragon Blast, a technique thought to be one of the most powerful to have ever been created. I found myself doubting my heritage, and I only realized this ever since Saffron.  
  
Fear.  
  
Mousse and the Kitchen destroyer are running behind me, lagging behind a little, even as I only use half of my full speed. After all, I need to conserve strength for what is to come. Mousse is never fast to begin with, his style of fighting lets him be slow and still make it seem like he have lightning fast movements. Akane... she is not a fighter; she will never reach our level of skill and finesse.  
  
So, in conclusion, what do we have? A failure of an Amazon who have utterly fallen in love with a man, a half blind male that has come to the delusion that he's actually fast and strong because he is stupid enough to let his own tricks trick him, and a Japanese women that doesn't know the true meaning of a fight.  
  
Fear.  
  
As an Amazon, and the heir of the Matriarch, I've been taught to control all, my movements, my perception, my emotions. By controlling my movements, I can master any skill that is to be thrown at me, to control my perception will sharpen my senses to a height that will allow me to sense everything in all detail, to control my emotions is to show no apparent weakness and to show faulty information to those who would go against me.  
  
I've been taught that only an Amazon can have total control of these three aspects of our race.  
  
At the time of the tournament, I thought that I have mastered control of myself, even Great grand mother agreed that I have mastered a lot of control of the three aspects. Then, a red haired girl came and showed me the truth. As a race, we are not beings of Order, but Chaos. It is through Chaos that we learn and grow.  
  
And that is what I've learnt to fear. The Chaos...  
  
Fear.  
  
The time I've spent in Nerima has made me into a failure that I am now. In our village, it isn't the females that chase after the male, it isn't the female that should fall in love and try their hardest to catch her object of admiration. But here, I found myself doing all that for him. The man who would face his worst fears to help one he thinks as a bother. He would risk losing his cure to the curse that he hates with a passion to rescue me. Yet, he killed a God mercilessly as he dove into the water to save HER.  
  
You can say I finally realize that I am a failure at that moment, it isn't Ranma Saotome the martial artist that is chasing me, trying to prove his worthiness to me, Xian Pu of the Chinese Amazons, it's me, Shampoo trying to live with the man she foolishly fell in love with, Ranma, forever. It's Shampoo, the Chinese girl trying to win Ranma, Man amongst Men from two other girls that see Ranma as he truly is, a man with a pure heart.  
  
Fear.  
  
I've been told stories from my mother about pure hearted people. Great grand mother says that mother has grown weak after she meet father. Yet, many times, mother still proves to be one of the most powerful non- matriarch warriors in our village. I asked her once about that, and all she told me was it was what father gave her, not some technique she learnt from him, nor was it some power transfer. She told me this.  
  
'It's his spirit that he has, as long as he is near me, his spirit calls to me and there I find my strength. Even if I am about to face all of the Musk army with only your father, I know I would win.'  
  
I still don't know what she meant by that, but right now, I hope I can find strength to do what I must do.  
  
But I fear I won't be able to.  
  
Fear.  
  
Many stories from the village told of legendary Amazons that danced dances of death with a man that have fallen for her, and with this devotion, these legends lead her partner to do many things that made the Amazons into what we are now.  
  
To many of us, to fight along side the one you have chosen to be your partner, to dance around each other and defending each other is the highest level of love that can be expressed to one another.  
  
I fear I would never experience this.  
  
I fear I would never experience this.  
  
I fear I would never experience this with Ranma...  
  
I fear I would die before Ranma would be willing...  
  
Fear.  
  
"Moose, Kitchen destroyer, Ranma ahead, I go first."  
  
"KITCHEN DESTROYER! What do you mean by THAT!"  
  
"Miss Tendo, this isn't the time for your arguments with Shampoo," Moose said nervously, "We'll catch up with you Shampoo."  
  
"Good, Moose, when you come, and see Shampoo defeated, I no want Moose to avenge yes?"  
  
"But!"  
  
"Your word as Fighter, NOW!"  
  
"I... I agree."  
  
"Good, now hurry after I gone!"  
  
I fear I would die today by the hands of the one who I have utterly fallen in love with.  
  
I fear I would never dance with him as the wind from his movements caress me gently, protecting me, caring for me as I do the same for him.  
  
That single thought has just gone against multitudes of Amazonian believe. Amazons don't fear death, Amazons don't fall in love first, Amazons are not supposed to express her love to a male.  
  
Then again, I'm a failure of an Amazon, so I guess that is all right...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Shampoo, as my favorite character in Ranma ½ (well she's hot, she can fight, she can cook, did I mention she's hot?) should be as close to the original as possible in this fic. And after reading this I know a lot of you will feel that this is WAY OOC. Well to counter this I have only one thing to say, just think about it, the world is never nice and dandy and views of the world shatter and rebuild itself everyday, a lot will disagree with that last comment, but like I said think about it.  
  
To me, Shampoo is slowly transforming from the original Amazon that Ranma meet to a Chinese girl running a Ramen shop with her great grandmother. To prove this, you need to look at the tricks she pulls to get Ranma. At first, it's the cat's tongue pressure point, a very aggressive move by the Amazons and Shampoo agrees to this. Then they manipulated Ryouga into fighting Ranma hoping to submit him, a still aggressive move, but starting to head towards passiveness, this trend from aggressive to passive is most evident in one of the last attempts, in the manga, to trap Ranma, the ghost cat thingy. Shampoo, by this time, is basically playing the maiden in distress just to try to get Ranma. As an Amazon, she shouldn't event THINK about this.  
  
So with that thought, as shallow or deep it is I have no idea, I wrote this piece to explore Shampoo's mind.  
  
I kinda feel bad for making Shampoo feel like a failure in this but then again, it's better than some other ones where Shampoo is a cold mindless person or just a plain bimbo, at least she have depth.  
  
Neways, that's all for this update ^^ Next is the ever blind martial artist MOOOOOOOOOOSE  
  
^^;;; Reviews are appreciated either via E-mail or that nifty button just below here. Til next time Ta Ta 


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